Chronological History of the American Civil War

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Ferry, Virginia, as Major General George Meade, (U.S.) begins to pursue General Robert E. Lee, (CSA), into Virginia. Stories of the horrors that Vicksburg went through begin to circulate in the papers. Savannah (Georgia) Republican: “Destitution at Vicksburg.—The Chattanooga Rebel of Sunday says: Col. Fountain E. Pitts, Divine, Orator and Soldier, one of the heroes of the siege of Vicksburg, arrived here yesterday from the South. The Colonel states, that during the siege the boys of Pemberton's army eat up hundred mules, preferring them infinitely to the poor, tough beef cattle. Rats were offered for sale at $2 a piece, and in demand, just before the surrender.” “Women have been robbed of their jewels and wearing apparel— stripped almost to nakedness in the presence of jeering Dutch; earrings have been torn from their ears, and rings from bleeding fingers. Every house has been pillaged, and thousands burned. The whole country between the Big Black and the Mississippi, and all that district through which Grant's army passed, is one endless scene of desolation. This is not the worst; robbery and murder are surely bad enough, but worse than all this, women have been subjected to enormities worse than death. Not only have these crimes been committed by white men, but they have stood by and made negroes guilty of deeds which you would blush to record.” Tuesday, July 21, 1863 : Nathan Bedford Forrest, (CSA) is promoted to Confederate Brigadier General. Major General Sterling Price, CSA, (pictured) assumes the command of the Confederate District

of the Tennessee. General Price was a lawyer, planter, and politician from the U.S. state of Missouri, who served as the 11th Governor of the state from 1853 to 1857. He also served as a United States Army brigadier general during the Mexican- American War, and a Confederate Army major general in the American Civil War. Prices’ war record so far was a lost at Pea Ridge, Arkansas and the 2nd Battle of Corinth, Mississippi. Major General Earl Van Dorn endorses him, but President Davis pronounced him "the vainest man I ever met." The Confederate Army of the Mississippi is ordered to Chattanooga, Tennessee. Wednesday, July 22, 1863 : President Lincoln writes a letter of introduction for a Mr. Houston to present to the Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton. Lincoln writes, "[the] bearer of this, now has three sons in the war. He wishes the youngest, Albert P.

Houston, now in the 108th Ills regiment, at Vicksburg (Mississippi), transferred to the 1st West Tennessee regiment of Cavalry, at Bolivar, (Tennessee) when last heard from, and in which is one of his elder brothers. I would like for him to be obliged." Brig. General John Morgan, (CSA) with his men somewhat rested on John Weaver's homestead near Triadelphia, Ohio, is now guided down Island Run by John Weaver, who was held hostage. Morgan forded the broad Muskingum River at Eaglesport, just south of Zanesville, before turning northward in Guernsey County. He still hoped to cross the Ohio River at some point and head through West Virginia to safety. At the village of Old Washington, Morgan's weary men fought a skirmish in the streets, before hastily departing, pursued by Union cavalry under Brig. General James M. Shackelford. Thursday, July 23, 1863 : General Meade (U.S.) ordered the III Corps, under General William. H. French (U.S.) to cut off the retreating Confederate columns at Front Royal by forcing a passage through Manassas Gap. At first light, French began slowly pushing Walker's Confederate brigade (Anderson's division) back into the gap. About 4:30 pm, a strong Union attack drove Walker's men, until they were reinforced by Rhodes's division and artillery. By dusk, the poorly coordinated Union attacks were abandoned. Friday, July 24, 1863 : John Hunt Morgan’s career as a cross-border raider into the lower reaches of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio was in severe danger of cancellation, today. He had lost half his men, when Union gunboats prevented their escape across the Ohio River a few days ago; since then he and his dwindling band had skirmishes almost daily with pursuing Federals as they fled in the general direction of Pennsylvania. He lost a few more men today, along with irreplaceable horses, supplies and ammunition. Union forces are still fighting Sioux Indians, this time at the Big Mound in the Dakota Territory. The Union forces displaced these and other well-placed Sioux in the surrounding ridges by accurate artillery